Why 42nd Class?

“All right,” said Deep Thought. “The Answer to the Great Question…”“Yes…!”“Of Life, the Universe and Everything…” said Deep Thought.“Yes…!”“Is…” said Deep Thought, and paused.“Yes…!”“Is…”“Yes…!!!…?”“Forty-two,” said Deep Thought, with infinite majesty and calm.

If you haven’t read The Hitchhiker’s Guide to the Galaxy (aka, HHGG, H2G2), you absolutely should. Take a brief respite from reading this blog (after checking out the rest of the website) and go buy one of the most clever, funny, imaginative books of all time. Then 42nd Class will make sense. Sort of.

To summarize: A race of super-smart aliens builds the most powerful computer in the universe to figure out the meaning to life, the universe, and everything. After 7.5 million years of computations, the computer cranks out the answer 42.

We’re not exactly super-smart aliens, but we are looking to shed a bit of enlightenment on that answer (or is it that question?). Since we’re quite confident you won’t learn much about life and what you need to enjoy it working 80 hours a week, we decided to change our methodology and see how the rest of the world lives.

We’re also on a budget. This trip isn’t 5-star hotels and restaurants. It’s hostels and Ramen noodles. We’re not flying 1st class. We’re flying in the cheap seats, way behind the baggage compartment, tucked somewhere between the fuel tanks and the livestock cages.